Linda Heisserman

Linda Heisserman—”I work in porcelain clay because it reminds me of a canvas. Each piece is thrown on the potter’s wheel. When the piece is leather hard, I start carving with single edge razor blade and dental tools. The piece starts to come alive for me when I carve; sometimes straight and precise lines, sometimes curving and soft lines. Sometimes I create openings/holes, so I can look through and around the pieces. I use a light green celadon or blue celadon glaze for my carved pieces because the glaze pools in the deeper grooves and pulls off the higher parts which quietly accentuates the carvings. I strive for my pieces to be both functional and special enough to bring a smile to a person’s face and eyes.”

After settling in Bend Oregon in 1976, Linda started applying for and getting into art craft fairs and gave up her ‘day’ job to become a self-supporting potter. Her innate perfectionism was tested when her rabbit took one bite out of each bowl she had thrown that day. Instead of throwing out all the bowls because of the imperfection, she cut into the lip of the bowls to hide the bite and created her asymmetrical distinctive Bunny Bowls. That day she learned a big life lesson—sometimes one needs to set aside what they wanted (the perfect bowl) and see what they have (a truly unique bowl) and go with it. Through this lesson she was able to start carving through vases and alter edges to make her distinctive style.

Linda has sold her work in galleries around the Pacific Northwest and she has sold in many art festivals along the West Coast. In 2008, She and a couple other artists started a members-only gallery in Bend, Oregon. At one point they had 6 Partners and 28 Members showing their art. The experience taught Linda how important it is for an artist to continue to develop and create. She resigned as a partner at the end of 2018 and is looking forward to her next steps in creating and showing her art. Tumalo Art Co. is excited to have this fabulous work as part of their collection.